Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Even though we were not with Teddy on his actual birthday, we were fortunate to spend the few days before, with him. We arrived in Penang late Thursday night so we could spend the weekend with Marz and Ted before they headed off on their ACSC volleyball tournaments. Since Marz was leaving on Monday evening, we decided to have a birthday lunch for Ted on the 17th.

TGI Friday's seems to be the place of choice for the kids to celebrate their birthdays. You will see why in the later pictures... Well, I guess never mind.... The first picture had Teddy's browny ice cream treat in it!! :)

At Friday's they make the birthday boy stand up and give a speech. The catch is, you cannot use the words "thank you" in your speech. I don't remember what the speech was word for word, but Teddy did well and did not use "thank you". Oh yah, and the salt shaker was his microphone. ;)

The staff then sang Happy Birthday to Ted.

They told him to close his eyes, make a wish, and then blow out the candle.

As I sit here, trying not to go too far off my rocker with my feelings about the UN, I decide that the only reason, and the only good reason to do this post is because Gabby was dressed soooo cute for the day!!

You cannot preach to me how we are destroying they earth, when you fly country flags from the US to site, using big jetliners, for a 10 minute "ceremony". I could go on and on, but I will get on to the pictures from the day. :)

I don't remember why Chris was home at this time of day, but since he was, he posed for the camera.

Gabby and her friend Megan. One of only a handful of kids from the US.

Show them how its done Gabs!

My purchase from the Trump Hotel in Vegas. She wore it proud... Well almost... I only had to staple it to her head! Ha Ha, just kidding!!! :D

The whole school. Well at least those who were left on site... Vacation started the day after.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Day Six, didn't start off as early as the last few day had, but boy oh boy, it was packed full of things we had to do... I guess not sure "had" is the appropriate word, but maybe a mixture of wanted and needed to do is a better description.

In order to get all the things done we "needed" to get done, I decide the best way for me to do it is to rent a car. Other than the Dream Cars, I hadn't been behind a wheel in two months AND I usually drive in small town America when I am home for the summer. So driving around Las Vegas was a little intimidating at first and it definitely wasn't as fun as the Dream Cars! I was driving a Ford Focus!! ;P

The first order of business for the day was to find me a new phone... Did I "need" a new phone, no, but Gabby sure did. So I bought a new one and gave her the hand-me-down.

That sounds like an easy story, but the rest of it goes something like this...

I'm not proud to admit, but I became "one of those people"... That would be one of the crazies who line up at Apple stores a few hours before the stores even open, just to maybe have a chance at purchasing the latest and greatest device. Now, I wasn't that crazy, but I will admit that one morning, I just happened to grab a coffee at 8:00 am and went and stood in line for a 10:00 opening, only to find out at 9:15, that the store was already sold out of the iPhone 7 Plus.

Now because of the break in back in August, I was back and forth to the Apple store for other things all that week. I bought a new computer and replaced a phone that Chris had, that had a manufacture defect, and a few other things. Anyway, while I was there for one of those other items, I asked the gal that was helping me if she knew if any of the other Apple stores in the area had the iPhone 7.

Who knew!!?? All you had to do was go on your handy dandy Apple app and act like you were going to buy a phone, and the store would tell you if they were in stock. Well, I was in luck!!

One of the stores on the outskirts of LV had the phone I wanted and in the color and size I wanted. So this is where the story for the day starts off....

I get a car rented and get Danella, my navigator, going around 8:30 am. We drive out to, I don't even remember what it's called, to the Apple store, to hop in line again, like one of the crazies! Fortunately, it worked!! I was in line early enough to get my phone reserved. Apple actually makes you have an appointment to come back and get the phone, so they don't have a hundred people waiting at the check out line.

I was to come back at 11:30 for my appointment time, so Danella and I went and found a nice little coffee shop and had a little breakfast.

Finally the phone is mine! :)

That is actually quite a long story, just to let you know I got a phone, which you really don't need to know, but I wanted to get in down on the blog so I could remember one day when I was old, like 80, that I did something "pop culture-ish". Can't say I will ever do it again, but it was fun while it lasted.

After we got the phone, we were back in the car making our way to the outlet mall. Unfortunately, we never did make it there, because we got side tracked going to Count's Kustoms for Mick. Interesting place, but I didn't take pictures. :)

We then went outside and they had a stall there that sold discounted tickets for shows. So Danella goes and checks them out. After talking to them for a bit, they tell us that they do not sell the tickets at that stall, but if you go to the stall that is by "Pawn Stars", they will have the tickets there for you.

So we hop in the car and navigate our way to Pawn Stars. This was not in the plans at all when the day started. We find the ticket stall and proceed to buy the tickets.

Now, this is just a public service announcement: NEVER BUY YOUR TICKETS FROM ONE OF THOSE PLACES!!! Just take my word for it!! ;)

After we buy the tickets, we cross the street and head over to the pawn shop.

Upon entering, I was floored by how small the shop actually was!

No, the dudes were not in that day, so I had to settle for a cardboard cut out. :)

And an electronic picture... ;)

On our way out...

Now since we had a car and some time left before the nights activities, we make our way over to Trump's Hotel so I can buy my "Deplorable's" t-shirt.

Good thing I took this picture before entering the hotel store, because I walked out of there with no t-shirt and a disappointed look on my face. Well, not really, but I was really hoping to get my deplorable's t-shirt while in Vegas... ;)

This is another long story, but I will save you the details... But I had to go out of the parking garage, to go back in, to put the car back in the rental parking. While we were waiting to go back in, two bunnies crossed our path! lol! ;)

We get back to our rooms, change our clothes, and are out the door again because we have it in our minds to see two shows for our last night together in Vegas.

The first was the Blue Man Group at the Luxor.

These were band members, but not the ones in the blue... ;)

After that show, we head to Caesars Palace to watch Absinthe.

This was quite the risqué show, but if you get over that part of the show and concentrate on the talent and skill level of these acrobats, it was quite amazing! I only took this one picture because I was so captured by all the acts! I thought Gavin would love to see the strength behind these two. :)

This was my favorite show of all the ones I saw in LV. It was exactly what I expected a LV show to be. :)

And now, last but not least, the very last thing we did in Vegas...

The Chandelier Bar.

A three story bar that looked like a huge chandelier. Danella wanted to do this on her wedding night, but we didn't get the chance. So we sent Chris back to the room, because he had a presentation to give the next day, and we went so Danella could get her drink. :)

There's always a joker in the bunch... I have no idea who this is other than the guy who asked if we would like for him to take our picture. He flipped the screen and had a little fun of his own... ;)

And that's it. That was my first time in Las Vegas! We had so much fun and were so busy! Needless to say, I was so very happy to get on that 14 hour plan ride in LA! I popped two Advil PM and went to sleep for a straight 10 hours. Yes, 10 HOURS!!!

Thanks again to all the vendors who made this trip fabulous, and especially thanks to Chris for taking me with!! :) xoxo

Friday, October 14, 2016

Riding on the high of the Dream Cars, we head back to the Las Vegas strip. Since we have a few hours until dinner, I get in touch with my Aunt Jelayne, whose husband is also in Vegas for the the Expo, and she meets us at Treasure Island for some lunch.

Oops... my butt seems to have grown and I forgot pants... lol!! :D

After lunch, we do a little shopping and then Jelayne helps me move from Treasure Island to the Paris Hotel. Chris is now attending a safety conference put on by Freeport.

When Chris was done with that day's meeting we get ready to go for dinner at the House of Blues. There we meet up with a fellow Tembagapurian, Chuck, who is now back living in the US.

It's always great to meet up and share stories of that crazy town!

After dinner, we try out the gift shop... I think I found my shades for next years Redpath Stampede!! ;)

Frank, he works with Chris, was also a good sport. ;)

Then before the nights end, we meet back up with Marlo and Jelayne for one quick drink before they head back home the next day.

That was the second half of Day Five... We are running out of steam, but still having such a great first time in Las Vegas! One more full day left...!

Thursday, October 13, 2016

After another night of little sleep, all I wanted to do was sleep in... So why I said yes to driving Dream Cars can only be attributed to finding out that I could drive a Mercedes!

I am not a thrill seeker, so the thought of going over 100 mph down a straight away, slamming on the breaks, and then taking a 90 degree left turn, was NEVRE EVER in my "dreams when I grow up" category!

We leave the Venetian Hotel and head to the race track. Again Redpath spoiled us and got the three of us our very own limo!

Once there, we signed in and the first thing they did, was make us sit and watch a 20 minute video on how to drive the cars!! I am freaking out!! Sit!! I am riding on 4 hours sleep and they want me to sit and watch TV and learn something!! I know that that is not a good combination for me. If I sit, I fall asleep!! I really can't as I need to pay attention to the rules and how to paddle shift!!

I just remember telling myself, "Stay awake!! Stay AWAKE!! This is life or death!!" :) I think I only dozed a couple times... But the good news is, I am here writing the story, so I didn't die... ;)

The entrance...

After the 20 minute video, they put our driving skills to the test in the simulators. Very smart people!

Here I am, you can see my driving coaches hand... The only advice he gave me was to NEVER let go of the steering wheel!! That was after I spun out!!! EEKS!!! :D

I must say, I was soooooo nervous doing this! Jay my professional driver, was great at keeping my nerves down. And then we went driving, no I mean RACING, on the track!

IT WAS SO FUN AND SOOOOOOOOO THRILLING!!!

I cannot believe how much I enjoyed the racing!

Here's me in my favorite car, the Mercedes! It was beautiful! The leather was so soft, smooth, and sleek. The set hugged me just right... It was the perfect car for me!! Chris... This may just have to be a present for me one day!! ha ha ha!!

Me and my pro driver Jay. Great guy!

Now I have to admit, the Mersades was NOT my favorite car in the handling department... It was an all wheel drive and handled way differently than all the other ones.

Here is my favorite one to drive: The Audi. I loved how this car hugged the track! I was even told to slow down going around a corner in this car! LOL! I think I may have scared Jay a little... ;)

Danella with the Ferrari. This also handled quite well.

I don't have any better pictures of the other two cars we drove, but they were a Nissan and a Porsche. We got to take each of the five cars around the track for four laps.

I cannot express my gratitude and excitement enough for how awesome this day was!! Bruce and the Redpath team, Thank you, Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! This is a memory that I will never forget!!

*This was only half of day five... I think it needs its own blog post. So stay tuned to Day Five Continued...